Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Of course, it's like that everywhere. The best students get the best jobs. It's just your selection of "best jobs" is going to be way better than Pudunk U's selection of "best jobs". And the jobs your average students get will be better than theirs. Not to mention your alumni network will blow most other school's out of the water... so even average students have a shot at schmoozing themselves into something solid.
You are only going to have one shot to get your first job so I suggest you take advantage of where you are. Do not take it for granted or downtalk it to yourself.
You act like people who went to 'Podunk U' can't go online and apply to jobs at companies located elsewhere. Obviously there aren't going to be many jobs in the immediate area of 'Podunk U'.
You act like people who went to 'Podunk U' can't go online and apply to jobs at companies located elsewhere. Obviously there aren't going to be many jobs in the immediate area of 'Podunk U'.
And who has the better chance of netting said jobs- the person who has no connection/whose school has no connection to the job and who simply applied via a website, or the person who attends a school that is targeted by said company, who spoke with the recruiter at a job fair, who did an on campus interview, whose school has multiple alumni working for the company, etc.?
And who has the better chance of netting said jobs- the person who has no connection/whose school has no connection to the job and who simply applied via a website, or the person who attends a school that is targeted by said company, who spoke with the recruiter at a job fair, who did an on campus interview, whose school has multiple alumni working for the company, etc.?
Who decides what the 'best jobs' are, and why are all the 'best jobs' the jobs that Berkeley grads apply to? I would imagine many Berkeley grads don't get jobs in the San Fran , San Jose area.
Applying through a website is how most people get jobs. The employers talk to a lot of students at those on campus job fairs so it isn't really a great advantage for getting the job. And it isn't like every good company is at a job fair on campus.
I don't think most companies have a limit on what colleges they hire people from. If a person have an electrical engineering degree with a high GPA from a college like Iowa State, Virginia Tech, , and a good GPA, a well written resume,etc, I don't think average engineer involved in hiring is going to exclude them based on where they went to school vs other colleges like Berkeley that you say are more prestigious.
If I was hiring people, I wouldn't only hire people from my university.
I don't think anything magical is happening in the classrooms at Berkeley that doesn't happen at other major universities.
There wouldn't be all these large and small universities all over the country if the only good jobs are in San Fransisco and California.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 08-03-2017 at 06:41 PM..
You act like people who went to 'Podunk U' can't go online and apply to jobs at companies located elsewhere. Obviously there aren't going to be many jobs in the immediate area of 'Podunk U'.
For the anonymous person who gave me some reputation for this post and left message, I assume that you meant to send the message to the person that I was responding to. You stated 'he is from SC' and instructed me not to talk to him. I am from SC, and that person does not appear to be.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 08-05-2017 at 11:46 AM..
UCB is the top public school and on par with the best Ivies in a lot of areas. I work in a bank (top tier bulge bracket) and the brand definitely helps (especially Haas). That said though the valid proposition is not that good out of state. The Cals has been eliminating out of state financial aid in recent years and tuition at UCB is near private school levels.
Who decides what the 'best jobs' are, and why are all the 'best jobs' the jobs that Berkeley grads apply to? I would imagine many Berkeley grads don't get jobs in the San Fran , San Jose area.
Applying through a website is how most people get jobs. The employers talk to a lot of students at those on campus job fairs so it isn't really a great advantage for getting the job. And it isn't like every good company is at a job fair on campus.
I don't think most companies have a limit on what colleges they hire people from. If a person have an electrical engineering degree with a high GPA from a college like Iowa State, Virginia Tech, , and a good GPA, a well written resume,etc, I don't think average engineer involved in hiring is going to exclude them based on where they went to school vs other colleges like Berkeley that you say are more prestigious.
If I was hiring people, I wouldn't only hire people from my university.
I don't think anything magical is happening in the classrooms at Berkeley that doesn't happen at other major universities.
There wouldn't be all these large and small universities all over the country if the only good jobs are in San Fransisco and California.
Actually, a lot of Berkeley grads do get jobs in SF and SJ. Lots of them here (I'm in Silicon Valley). It's part of the greater SF Bay Area, and Berkeley is a part of it. Proximity and a lot of alumni in the area is a major factor. No different than Amazon and Microsoft hiring lots of U of Washington graduates.
Applying for jobs through websites isn't the most effective way of getting jobs - odds are low and it's hard to get noticed or stand out. Better odds and chances are through intros and personal contacts - at any level.
I will concur with you that it's the person, rather than the school itself that matters. Now of course, yeah, I'd have a look at a UC grad when hiring (yes, I'm an alum) but I won't exclude people from other schools either, and yes, I wouldn't just hire Cal grads. I want to see how that person is a fit for the job and their skills, personalities, etc.
Ok, I understand that there are more Cal people in the San Fran area. That is partly because more of them want to live there and are applying to jobs there. Plus companies don't want to pay to relocate people if there are good people living nearby.
Every job that I have obtained , I applied on the company website or I saw the job on Indeed or similar job website. Most people don't know somebody working at every company that they apply to.
I've interviewed and hired college grads for STEM positions for multiple different name brand companies and firms. As someone based in Chicago with absolutely no personal ties to Cal and went to a completely different state school far from there (Illinois), there's no question that a Cal engineering or computer science grad would get a huge amount of consideration. Cal is considered to be one of the very best producers of STEM graduates as evidenced by the hiring practices companies from across the entire country. I can tell you for a fact that Cal is a "target school" (meaning they're looking to hire entire groups of students from Cal, not just 1 or 2 token hires) by virtually every top tier company and consulting firm looking for engineering and computer science grads at a *national* level on par with only Stanford and MIT really being a step higher. Cal grads basically have their choice to go anywhere, although the best opportunities are generally right in their backyard in Silicon Valley (similar to the Ivy League schools and Wall Street). Georgia Tech is probably the one southeastern school that has that type of national reputation in those fields as of now. The others are more regional, albeit CS grads are in such high demand in general that top companies are going to schools that they might have considered as much before. That being said, Cal has ALWAYS been on the short list of the best of the best in that area by any objective standard.
You did not provide any evidence that other colleges are more regional. You speculated.
I know Clemson grads that are working in California, and in the northeast. I have a friend who is an electrical engineer and he is a professor at Oxford now. Engineering is engineering, regardless of where it is taught.
Berkeley has one of the highest number of STEM grads for a college so obviously employers are going to be aware of it and hire people who went there. I have never said that Cal is not a good college.
My point is there are a lot of good colleges. I have worked in the southeast, Maryland and New York, and I have never met any Cal grads. These are very large engineering firms doing national and international work in nuclear power and other industries. If you want to work in nuclear power, the southeast is a better spot than Silicon Valley.
Silicon Valley only has the 'best' opportunities if you want to work in the semiconductor and computer related industries located there. There are similar companies all over the country though. It doesn't make any sense to generalize the jobs in the Silicon Valley as the 'best jobs' in those industries. I don't think too many STEM college grads in the south want to live in San Fran or California.
Last edited by ClemVegas; 08-09-2017 at 10:33 PM..
Ok, I understand that there are more Cal people in the San Fran area. That is partly because more of them want to live there and are applying to jobs there. Plus companies don't want to pay to relocate people if there are good people living nearby.
Every job that I have obtained , I applied on the company website or I saw the job on Indeed or similar job website. Most people don't know somebody working at every company that they apply to.
Well, you may have a very particular skill set that stands out, but generally speaking, it's a lot easier to go through personal contacts or an introduction. What do you think networking is all about? And this becomes more true the higher you go up the career ladder. Most positions are "unadvertised" or hidden.
85% of the jobs I've worked were through someone I knew or introduced to me (a friend of a friend or a relative).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
